Mobile device proximity notification

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present invention disclose a method, computer program product, and system for mobile computing device proximity notification. The method includes one or more processors acquiring location information for a plurality of mobile computing devices. The method further includes one or more processors creating a first group of mobile computing devices based on location proximity in the acquired location information of the plurality of mobile computing devices, wherein the created first group includes a first mobile computing device and a second mobile computing device. The method further includes one or more processors determining whether the first mobile computing device is within a predetermined distance to the second mobile computing device, and the first mobile computing device and the second mobile computing device are outside of an area associated with the first group.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of mobile devices,and more particularly to providing notification of proximity of a mobiledevice.

A mobile device is a computing device that is typically small enough tobe handheld (e.g., a handheld computer, a smartphone, etc.). Mobiledevices can include displays that are capable of receiving touch input.A mobile computing device has an operating system (OS) and can runvarious types of application software, known as apps. Many mobilecomputing devices are capable of communicating over a wireless networkand can include near-field communication (NFC) and global positioningsystem (GPS) communication capabilities. These capabilities can allowconnections to the Internet and other devices, such as an automobile ora microphone headset or can be used to provide location-based services.A camera or media player feature for video or music files can also betypically found on mobile computing devices, along with a battery powersource. Increasingly, mobile computing devices also contain sensors likeaccelerometers, compasses, magnetometers, and/or gyroscopes, allowingdetection of orientation and motion.

Location-based services (LBS) are a general class of computerprogram-level services that use location data to control features. Assuch, LBS is an information service and has a number of uses in socialnetworking today as an entertainment service, which is accessible withmobile devices through the mobile network and which uses information onthe geographical position of the mobile device. LBS are used in avariety of contexts, such as health, indoor object search,entertainment, work, personal life, etc. LBS include services toidentify a location of a person or object, such as discovering thenearest banking cash machine or the whereabouts of a friend or employee.LBS include parcel tracking and vehicle tracking services.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present invention disclose a method, computer programproduct, and system for mobile computing device proximity notification.The method includes one or more processors acquiring locationinformation for a plurality of mobile computing devices. The methodfurther includes one or more processors creating a first group of mobilecomputing devices based on location proximity in the acquired locationinformation of the plurality of mobile computing devices, wherein thecreated first group includes a first mobile computing device and asecond mobile computing device. The method further includes one or moreprocessors determining whether the first mobile computing device iswithin a predetermined distance to the second mobile computing device,and the first mobile computing device and the second mobile computingdevice are outside of an area associated with the first group.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary configuration of an apparatus, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an operational flow performed by an apparatus, according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows exemplary location information, according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an example of information defining the areas where eachmobile device spends time, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 shows exemplary updated groups or group candidates resulting froma weighting unit, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows exemplary groups created by a grouping unit, according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a first example of a notification, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a second example of a notification, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows a system for proximity notification, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary configuration of a computer, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some embodiments of the present invention recognize that people oftenassociate with others in groups. Whether a person is at work, the gym, aclient's office, or some other regularly visited place, the people whoare around the person in each of the places are likely to be mostly thesame groupings of people from one day to another. Occasionally, someonefrom one of the person's regularly visited places will happen to go tothe same place as the person outside of the regularly visited place. Insome cases, the person will want to know this fact so that they can actaccordingly.

Implementation of embodiments of the invention may take a variety offorms, and exemplary implementation details are discussed subsequentlywith reference to the Figures. Hereinafter, example embodiments of thepresent invention will be described. The example embodiments shall notlimit the claims, and the combinations of features described in theembodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary configuration of an apparatus 100, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus 100automatically and dynamically groups mobile devices that are present inan area around a mobile device of the user, according to dailyactivities of a user, and provides notification when a mobile device inone group is near the mobile device of the user at a location differingfrom the group location. The apparatus 100, which may be realized in aserver, may periodically acquire location information of a plurality ofmobile devices, group the mobile devices based on the locationinformation, and, in response to discovering that mobile devices in oneof the groups have become proximal at a location that is not associatedwith that group, deliver a notification to these proximal mobiledevices.

In other embodiments, the apparatus 100 may be realized on a mobiledevice. The server may reside on a network, such as the Internet, asubscriber network, a cellular network, or any combination of networks.The server may be a dedicated server or a shared server performing otheroperations. The server may reside at any point on a network and may bein communication with the mobile devices through access points,gateways, other servers, etc., in any combination of wireless and wiredcommunication paths. In embodiments where the apparatus 100 is realizedon a mobile device, the apparatus 100 may only operate with respect togroups with which the mobile device associates.

A mobile device may be any device that has a communication function,such as a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a tablet PC, a wearable PC, agame device, a miniature computer, etc. The apparatus 100 includes alocation acquiring unit 110, a storage unit 120, a receiving unit 130, aregistration unit 140, a grouping unit 150, a generating unit 160, and anotification unit 170.

The location acquiring unit 110 may be operable to periodically acquirethe location information of mobile devices within a network (e.g., eachmobile device in an entire network), on the Internet, subscribing to aservice provider, subscribing to a proximity service, etc. The locationacquiring unit 110 may acquire the location information of each mobiledevice at a time interval, such as a second, a minute, an hour, a day, aweek, a month, a year, or any multiple thereof. The actual times thatthe location information is acquired may be offset among the mobiledevices, which may avoid network congestion. The location informationmay indicate a relative or an absolute location of a mobile device. Forexample, the location acquiring unit 110 may acquire the locationinformation that has been acquired by a mobile device using GPS, ageomagnetic sensor, etc., or location information from the currentaccess point, such as a wireless hotspot of known location, a cellularantenna tower of known location, etc. Alternatively, the mobile devicemay upload the devices location to the location acquiring unit 110. Thelocation acquiring unit 110 may acquire the location information fromeach of the plurality of mobile devices through wireless communication,wired communication, or a combination of wired and wirelesscommunication protocols interconnected in a network, such as theInternet. The location acquiring unit 110 can be a modem, a LANinterface, a wireless LAN interface, or any other wired or wirelesscommunication interface.

The location information may include longitude and latitude in anabsolute coordinate system, distance and direction from a referencepoint, etc. The location information may include height information,such as altitude. The location acquiring unit 110 may acquire the heightinformation detected by a mobile device using an atmospheric pressuresensor or other type of altimeter. The apparatus 100 may acquire thelocation information from mobile devices that have previously permittedthe use of their location information.

The storage unit 120 is in communication with the location acquiringunit 110 and may be operable to store the acquired location information.The storage unit 120 may store a time that the location information wasacquired and identification of the mobile device, along with thelocation information. The storage unit 120 may store setting values ofthe apparatus 100, intermediate data, calculation results, thresholds,parameters, and the like that are generated or used in the operationsperformed by the apparatus 100. In response to a request from acomponent in the apparatus 100, the storage unit 120 may supply thestored data to the component. The storage unit 120 may be a computerreadable medium, such as an electronic storage device, a magneticstorage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storagedevice, a semiconductor storage device, etc.

The receiving unit 130 may be operable to receive a request from eachmobile device. The receiving unit 130 may receive a request to set orchange the setting values, thresholds, parameters, and the like of theapparatus 100. The receiving unit 130 may receive a request tomanipulate the operation of a mobile device. The receiving unit 130 mayreceive each request via wireless communication, wired communication, ora combination of wired and wireless communication protocolsinterconnected in a network, such as the Internet. The receiving unit130 may supply the received request to the registration unit 140 and/orthe grouping unit 150. The receiving unit 130 can be a modem, a LANinterface, a wireless LAN interface, or any other wired or wirelesscommunication interface. In some embodiments, the location acquiringunit and the receiving unit may be the same unit.

The registration unit 140 may be operable to register the settingvalues, thresholds, parameters, and the like of the apparatus 100 in thestorage unit 120 in response to requests from mobile devices. Theregistration unit 140 is in communication with the receiving unit 130 toreceive a request from a mobile device. Furthermore, the registrationunit 140 is in communication with the storage unit 120 to registersetting values and the like corresponding to or included in a requestfrom a mobile device in the storage unit 120. The registration unit 140may be a circuit, a shared or dedicated computer readable medium storingcomputer readable program instructions executed by a shared or dedicatedprocessor, etc.

The grouping unit 150 may be operable to create a group by grouping atleast two of the plurality of mobile devices based on proximity by usingthe location information of each mobile device. For example, thegrouping unit 150 may create a first group based on a degree ofproximity (e.g., distance) of each mobile device to a first mobiledevice of the plurality of mobile devices.

The grouping unit 150 may create the first group based on a number ofdetections of each mobile device within the degree of proximity to thefirst mobile device. The grouping unit 150 may define an area, such as ageographic area, by the degree of proximity to the first mobile device.For example, if the first mobile device is detected to remain withincertain bounds despite smaller movements within those bounds, then thegrouping unit 150 may define the area according to those bounds. Thegrouping unit 150 may create the first group based on the number ofdetections of each mobile device within the degree of proximity to thefirst mobile device within a time period that the first mobile device ispresent within an area. The first group generated by the grouping unit150 may correspond to the area.

The grouping unit 150 is in communication with the storage unit 120. Thegrouping unit 150 may read the location information of the plurality ofmobile devices and generate at least one group based on this locationinformation. The grouping unit 150 may store the generated groupinformation in the storage unit 120. The grouping unit 150 may read thelocation information of the plurality of mobile devices and the groupinformation stored in the storage unit 120 and update the groupinformation based on the location information. The grouping unit 150 mayinclude a counter unit 152, a weighting unit 154, and a determining unit156. The grouping unit 150 may be a circuit, a shared or dedicatedcomputer readable medium storing computer readable program instructionsexecuted by a shared or dedicated processor, etc. In some embodiments,the grouping unit 150 may be computer readable instructions stored onthe same computer readable medium and executed by the same processor asthe registration unit 140.

The counter unit 152 may be operable to count a number of detections ofa second mobile device among the plurality of mobile devices in the areawhere the first mobile device is located during the time period usingthe location information of the first and second mobile devices in thestorage unit 120. The time period may be a minute, an hour, a day, aweek, a month, a year, a decade, or any multiple thereof. This timeperiod may be set by the user, such as by inputting the time period intothe user's mobile device. The area where the first mobile device islocated may be a geographical area, such as an area of an office, a gym,a park, an arena, etc. Alternatively, this area may be an area thatmoves in accordance with movement of the first mobile device, such as anarea of an automobile, a train, an airplane, a boat, or any othervessel. This area may be an area defined by a degree of proximity to thefirst mobile device. In other embodiments, the area may be a knownlocation of an office, a gym, a park, an arena, etc., defined by a setof geographic coordinates, such as a geofence.

For example, in response to one or more mobile devices being detectedwithin the predetermined distance from the first mobile device withinthe time period, the counter unit 152 counts the number of detections ofeach of the mobile devices. The counter unit 152 may store the number ofdetections of each of the mobile devices in the storage unit 120. Thecounter unit 152 may be a circuit, a shared or dedicated computerreadable medium storing computer readable program instructions executedby a shared or dedicated processor, etc. In some embodiments, thecounter unit may be computer readable instructions stored on the samecomputer readable medium and executed by the same processor as theregistration unit and/or the grouping unit.

The weighting unit 154 may be operable to assign a weight to eachdetection of the number of detections by assigning less weight to olderdetections. The weighting unit 154 may assign a smaller weight thatcauses an older detection of a mobile device to not affect, or impactless, the group creation performed by the grouping unit 150. Forexample, the weighting unit 154 may multiply each detection occurringwithin a time period by a coefficient corresponding to this smallerweight. The weighting unit 154 may assign each detection a value of 1,then multiply each detection from more than one month ago by 0.8. Inother embodiments, the weighting unit may subtract, from each detection,a coefficient multiplied by its age in hours, days, weeks, months,years, or any other applicable unit of time. The coefficient may beadjusted according to the applicable unit of time. The weighting unit154 may store the weighted number of detections in the storage unit 120.Coefficients and/or formulas corresponding to the weighting algorithmmay be stored in the storage unit 120. The weighting unit 154 may be acircuit, a shared or dedicated computer readable medium storing computerreadable program instructions executed by a shared or dedicatedprocessor, etc. In some embodiments, the weighting unit may be computerreadable instructions stored on the same computer readable medium andexecuted by the same processor as the registration unit, the groupingunit, and/or the counter unit.

The determining unit 156 may be operable to determine whether to add thesecond mobile device to the first group by comparing the number ofdetections to a predetermined threshold. If the weighting unit 154 hasweighted the detections, then the determining unit 156 may determinewhether to add the second mobile device to the first group by comparingthe weighted number of detections to the predetermined threshold. If thesecond mobile device is added to the first group, then the determiningunit 156 may store information concerning the updated first group in thestorage unit 120. The determining unit 156 may be a circuit, a shared ordedicated computer readable medium storing computer readable programinstructions executed by a shared or dedicated processor, etc. In someembodiments, the determining unit may be computer readable instructionsstored on the same computer readable medium and executed by the sameprocessor as the registration unit, the grouping unit, the counter unit,and/or the weighting unit.

The generating unit 160 may be operable to generate a notification inresponse to the first mobile device being located proximal to the secondmobile device provided that the first mobile device and the secondmobile device are associated with the first group and are locatedoutside of the area corresponding to the first group. The generatingunit 160 is in communication with the storage unit 120. The generatingunit 160 may read the group information and the location information ofthe plurality of mobile devices and determine whether to generate anotification for each of the mobile devices based on this groupinformation and location information.

For example, if two mobile devices associated with the first groupcorresponding to a first area are proximal in an area differing from thefirst area, then the generating unit 160 determines that a notificationfor each of the two mobile devices, the notification indicating that amobile device in the first group is proximal, should be generated andgenerates these notifications. The generating unit 160 suppliesnotifications to the notification unit 170. The generating unit 160 maybe a circuit, a shared or dedicated computer readable medium storingcomputer readable program instructions executed by a shared or dedicatedprocessor, etc. In some embodiments, the generating unit 160 may becomputer readable instructions stored on the same computer readablemedium and executed by the same processor as the registration unit, thegrouping unit, the counter unit, the weighting unit, and/or thedetermining unit.

The notification unit 170 may be operable to deliver the notification tothe first mobile device and the second mobile device. The notificationunit 170 may deliver the notification according to the settings storedin the storage unit 120. These settings stored in the storage unit 120may designate a delivery destination, information to be delivered, andthe like. For example, a setting associated with a first mobile devicemay specify a phone number, an email address, a social media account, orany other contact information as the delivery destination. Thenotification unit 170 may provide a notification to the first mobiledevice indicating that a mobile device in the first group has beendetected near the first mobile device without providing any personalinformation of the nearby mobile device. In some embodiments, thenotification may not specify the group with which the nearby mobiledevice is associated. The notification unit 170 can be a modem, a LANinterface, a wireless LAN interface, or any other wired or wirelesscommunication interface. In some embodiments, the location acquiringunit, the receiving unit, and the notification unit may be the sameunit.

The apparatus 100 may generate and update groups dynamically, accordingto the locations of the plurality of mobile devices. The apparatus 100may provide notification that a mobile device in a group has becomeproximal to another mobile device in that group, in response to thosemobile devices becoming proximal in an area outside of the areacorresponding to that group.

With the apparatus 100, it is possible to group a mobile devicepossessed by a user with one or more other mobile devices that are inproximity to the mobile device of the user without requiringregistration in advance by the user. Furthermore, the apparatus 100 candynamically update the group.

For example, in response to a second mobile device, which is notassociated with a second group, becoming proximal to a first mobiledevice in a second area, which corresponds to the second group, anotification may be delivered to both of these mobile devices, therebydeepening the friendship of the users of these mobile devices. In theseembodiments, if the frequency with which the second mobile device islocated in the second area becomes high, then the count of the number ofdetections becomes large. In response, a determining unit can includethe second mobile device in the second group. Specifically, an apparatusaccording to some embodiments can automatically and dynamically performgrouping while reflecting the daily activities and lifestyle of the userwithout performing a detailed analysis of the activities of the ownersof mobile devices among the general public. A group may not lastperpetually after being formed and may be removed by the grouping unit150. Mobile devices that belong to a group are not fixed and may beremoved from groups by the grouping unit 150 with changes incircumstances.

The apparatus 100 may change setting values or the like according to arequest from the user submitted through a mobile device. The firstmobile device may transmit a request to the apparatus 100 to change thepredetermined threshold used by the determining unit 156. The receivingunit 130 may receive the request from the mobile device and may supplythe request to the grouping unit 150. The determining unit 156 maychange the predetermined threshold in response to receiving the requestfrom the mobile device. The receiving unit 130 may supply the requestfrom the mobile device to the registration unit 140, and in response,the registration unit 140 may store in the storage unit 120 the receivedthreshold.

The first mobile device may transmit to the apparatus 100 a request tonot create a group for an area specified by the user. The receiving unit130 may receive such a request from the mobile device and may supply therequest to the grouping unit 150. The grouping unit 150 may beprohibited from creating a group corresponding to the specified area inresponse to receiving the request from the first mobile device. Thereceiving unit 130 may supply the request from the mobile device to theregistration unit 140, and in response, the registration unit 140 maystore the received request in the storage unit 120 as a setting value.

The apparatus 100 may provide a proximity notification to mobile deviceswithout using personal information of the mobile devices and evenwithout being aware of the personal identity associated with individualmobile devices. In addition, according to registration and settings ofeach mobile device, mobile devices may be permitted to recognize othermobile devices that have given such permission through instructions orinput by the users. In some of these embodiments, if a first mobiledevice obtains permission from a second mobile device, then personalinformation corresponding to the user of the second mobile device may bestored in the first mobile device. The first mobile device may store theID, user name, nickname, and the like of the user of second mobiledevice in association with the identification information of the secondmobile device.

The first mobile device may transmit to the apparatus 100 a request toinclude identification of the second mobile device in the notification.The receiving unit 130 may receive the request from the mobile deviceand supply the request to the registration unit 140 in response. Theregistration unit 140 may be operable to register the second mobiledevice, which is identified by the first mobile device in the request,in the storage unit 120, in response to receiving the request from thefirst mobile device. In response to the registration of such a setting,the generating unit 160 may include an identification of a registeredmobile device in a generated notification.

The generating unit 160 may include identification information of thesecond mobile device in response to the request from the first mobiledevice. If the identification information of the second mobile device isdelivered, then the first mobile device may display the personalinformation of the second mobile device corresponding to theidentification information. In this way, the user of the first mobiledevice can recognize whether the user of the second mobile device is inproximity without the apparatus 100 using personal information.

FIG. 2 shows an operational flow performed by an apparatus, according toan embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment describes anexample in which the apparatus is realized in a server and handlesinformation, requests, and notification through communication with aplurality of mobile devices.

A location acquiring unit, such as the location acquiring unit 110 ofFIG. 1, may acquire the location information of one or more mobiledevices (S210). For example, if a user of a first mobile device among aplurality of mobile devices is working in an office, then the locationacquiring unit may acquire the geographical coordinates of the office asthe location information of the first mobile device. If a coworker is auser of a second mobile device and is also working in the office, thenthe location acquiring unit may acquire the same location information ofthe second mobile device. The location acquiring unit may record thelocation information as the geographical coordinates of the office, thegeographical coordinates of the individual mobile devices, the addressof the office, some proprietary indicator specific to the apparatus thatdesignates the office, a geofence outlining the office, etc.

In this way, the location acquiring unit may periodically acquire thelocation information of each mobile device in an entire network, forexample, on the Internet, subscribing to a service provider, subscribingto a proximity service, etc. The location acquiring unit may acquire thelocation information of each mobile device at synchronized or offsettime intervals and may store the acquired location information in astorage unit. For example, the location acquiring unit may storeidentification information, location information, and the time at whichthe location information is acquired for each mobile device.

A grouping unit, such as the grouping unit 150 of FIG. 1, may generategroup candidates for areas in which a mobile device is located (S220).For example, the grouping unit may define the area as a circle formedwith a radius (e.g., 10 meters) centered on the location of the firstmobile device at a given detection time. If there is no change in theposition of the first mobile device at the next detection time (e.g., ifthe user of the first mobile device continues working at their desk inthe office), or if the location of the first mobile device changes butremains within the defined area (e.g., if the user carries the firstmobile device and moves to an adjacent room in the office), then thegrouping unit may determine that the first mobile device is located inthe same area. In other embodiments, the grouping unit may define thearea as a circle formed with a radius centered on an average location ofthe first mobile device calculated from the detected location throughoutan hour, a day, etc. In further embodiments, the grouping unit maydefine the area as a set of coordinates outlining the office, such as ageofence, or a street address of the office, which may include floorinformation.

If the location of the first mobile device is outside of the definedarea at a subsequent detection time, e.g., if the user leaves theoffice, then the grouping unit may determine that the first mobiledevice has moved to a different area. For example, the user may carrythe first mobile device throughout the day, traveling from a home to theoffice, leaving the office to go to lunch at a restaurant, returning tothe office, traveling to an office of a customer, going to exercise at agym, returning home, etc. In this case, the grouping unit may determinethat the first mobile device is spending time at areas correspondingrespectively to the home, the office, the restaurant, the office, thecustomer office, the gym, and the home, in the stated order.

For each area where a mobile device is located, a counter unit countsthe number of detections of each of the other mobile devices in thatarea. For example, when the user of the first mobile device is locatedat home, mobile devices possessed by the family of the user may also bedetected in the area corresponding to the home. When the user of thefirst mobile device is working at the office, a mobile device possessedby a coworker of the user working in this office may be detected in thearea corresponding to the office. While the user continues to work atthe office, and the coworker also continues to work at the office, themobile device possessed by the coworker may be detected to be at theoffice at multiple detection times. The counter unit may count thenumber of detections of other mobile devices in one area.

If group candidate information or group information is already stored inthe storage unit by a counter unit, then the grouping unit may updatethis information. For example, the grouping unit may search for groupsor group candidates having substantially matching identificationinformation and area information, among the past group candidates andgroups, and indicates matching groups or group candidates as havingcorresponding information.

If there is a corresponding group or corresponding group candidate forthe group candidate, then the grouping unit may update thiscorresponding group or corresponding group candidate (S230). Thegrouping unit may perform this update by adding the number of detectionsof each mobile device of the group candidate to the number of detectionsof each mobile device of the corresponding group candidate orcorresponding group.

In updating the past number of detections of each mobile device of thecorresponding group candidate or corresponding group, the grouping unitmay assign weights to the detections in order to reduce the impact ofolder detections. A weighting unit may assign a weight to the pastdetections. For example, the weighting unit may perform the update byadding the number of detections of each mobile device of the groupcandidate to a value obtained as the product of a coefficient that isless than 1 and the past number of detections of each mobile device ofthe corresponding group candidate or corresponding group. The weightingunit may multiply the number of detections from one day ago by 0.8 andadd the number of detections counted by the counter unit for the presentday to the multiplication result.

If the number of detections of a mobile device of the correspondinggroup candidate or corresponding group also includes detections from twodays ago, then the detections from two days ago have already beenmultiplied by 0.8 one day earlier and are, therefore, once againmultiplied by 0.8 during the update of the present day, resulting in anultimate weight of 0.64 being multiplied by the number of detectionsfrom two days ago. In the updated number of detections of the presentday, the detections from n days ago have had an ultimate weight of 0.8napplied. The weighted numbers of detections of the previous days areadded to the number of detections counted by the counter unit for thepresent day.

In this way, the weighting unit may assign less weight to olderinformation, thereby reducing the impact of the location information formobile devices detected in the past. The weighting unit may reduce theimpact of information for areas where the user of the mobile device hasbecome located more infrequently, which may be due to the user movinghomes, changing workplaces, changing preferences, or changing dailyhabits, for example, and can therefore generate group candidates orgroups in accordance with the latest changes in the life of the user.

A determining unit, such as the determining unit 156 of FIG. 1, maycompare the sum of the number of detections of each mobile devicedetected in an area to a predetermined threshold to determine whether toinclude the detected mobile device in a group corresponding to the area(S240). If the mobile device that is to be included in a group would bethe only mobile device in the group (i.e., if no other mobile deviceexceeds the predetermined threshold number of detections within anarea), then the determining unit may maintain a group candidate withoutactually forming the group. The determining unit may store the group andgroup candidate information in a storage unit. In this way, each groupmay be created by acquiring location information of each of theplurality of mobile devices and grouping at least two of the pluralityof mobile devices based on proximity by using the location informationof each mobile device. In other embodiments, a determining unit maymaintain a group candidate without actually forming a group until amobile device other than the subject mobile device, such as the mobiledevice on which the area is defined, has a number of detections thatexceeds the predetermined threshold.

A generating unit, such as the generating unit 160 of FIG. 1, reads,from a storage unit, group information, and the location information ofa plurality of mobile devices. In one embodiment, the generating unitdetermined whether a first mobile device in a group is proximal to asecond mobile device in the same group and determines whether bothmobile devices are located outside of an area that corresponds to thegroup (S250). If a first mobile device and a second mobile device arelocated in an area associated with a first group, and the mobile devicesboth belong to the first group, then the generating unit does notgenerate a notification (S250: No). Even though the second mobile deviceis proximal to the first mobile device, both mobile devices arecurrently located within the area associated with the first group. Ifthe first mobile device and a plurality of mobile devices associatedwith the second group are located in an area associated with a secondgroup, then the generating unit may not generate a notification (S250:No) (e.g., because these mobile devices are currently located within thearea associated with the second group).

If the first mobile device is located proximal to the second mobiledevice, and if the first mobile device and the second mobile device arelocated in the second area, which corresponds to the second group, andif the second mobile device is not associated with the second group, butonly the first group, then the generating unit may generate anotification (S250: Yes). In response, a notification unit, such asnotification unit 170 of FIG. 1, may notify the first mobile device thatthe second mobile device is in proximity (S280).

If the generating unit does not generate the notification (S250: No),and there are no instructions to stop the operation of the apparatus(S252: No), then the generating unit determines whether one day haspassed since the creation or most recent update of the group (S260). Ifone day has not yet passed since the group creation or most recentupdate (S260: No), then the generating unit reads any newly acquiredlocation information of the plurality of mobile devices from the storageunit (S270), such as any location information acquired in the latestsynchronized detections or the latest round of offset detections anddetermines whether to generate any notifications (S250).

Since updates of the group information may be performed by the groupingunit once per day, the group information is not updated throughout theday, and the generating unit may simply read the newly acquired locationinformation of the plurality of mobile devices from the storage unit.The apparatus may continue monitoring proximity of mobile devicesassociated with a group in locations different from the area associatedwith the group, based on the newly acquired location information of theplurality of mobile devices. If one day has passed since the groupcreation or most recent update (S260: Yes), then the grouping unit maycreate and update the group and group candidate information, and thegenerating unit may read the location information from the storage unit(S210) and return to the operation of monitoring proximity of mobiledevices and generating notifications. If there is an instruction to stopthe operation of the apparatus (S252: Yes), then the apparatus may stopoperating.

The notification unit may deliver the notification generated by thegenerating unit to the first mobile device. The notification unit maydeliver this notification to the second mobile device. If there aremultiple mobile devices for which the notification of proximity to thefirst mobile device is to be made, then the notification unit maydeliver the notification to all of the mobile devices in addition to thefirst mobile device. The first mobile device receives multiplenotifications of proximity, one for each of the multiple devices inproximity that share a group corresponding to a different area, and eachof the multiple devices receives a notification that the first mobiledevice is in proximity.

If there are no instructions to stop the operation of the apparatus(S282: No), then the generating unit determines whether one day haspassed from the group creation or most recent update (S260). If one dayhas not yet passed since the group creation or most recent update (S260:No), then the generating unit may read the newly acquired locationinformation of the plurality of mobile devices from the storage unit(S270) and determine whether to generate any notifications (S250). Ifone day has passed since the group update (S260: Yes), then the groupingunit may create and update groups and group candidates, and thegenerating unit may read the location information from the storage unit(S210) and return to the operation of monitoring proximity of mobiledevices and generating notifications. If there is an instruction to stopthe operation of the apparatus (S282: Yes), then the apparatus may stopoperating.

FIG. 3 shows exemplary location information, according to an embodimentof the present invention. FIG. 3 shows an example in which a locationacquiring unit has acquired the location information of the first mobiledevice every ten minutes and has stored the acquired locationinformation in a storage unit. Here, an example is shown in which theidentification (ID) of each mobile device is a character sequence. Insome embodiments, the ID may include personal information, such as theuser name of the mobile device and the serial number of the mobiledevice. However, in this embodiment, the location acquiring unit hasinstead used, as the identification information, a character stringobtained by hashing, encrypting, or encoding the ID of the first mobiledevice. In some embodiments, no user information other than the ID ofthe mobile device is recorded. In this way, any information that linksdirectly to personal information can be omitted from the informationmanaged in the apparatus.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which the character string “cxresigxg..feg,”which is obtained by encoding the ID of the first mobile device, is usedin the first column as the identification information. The first row inFIG. 3 shows an example in which a location acquiring unit has recordedthat the first mobile device was located at latitude: 35.65858 andlongitude: 139.745433 at 9:00 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2014. The second row inFIG. 3 shows an example in which the location acquiring unit hasrecorded that the first mobile device was located at latitude: 35.65858and longitude: 139.745433 at 9:10 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2014. The locationacquiring unit may acquire the location information of each mobiledevice, record the location information in the same way, and accumulatethe location information of each mobile device in the storage unit.

A grouping unit may generate one or more groups based on the locationinformation of the plurality of mobile devices. The grouping unit maygenerate the groups based on the location information of the pluralityof mobile devices accumulated by the location acquiring unit during aperiod. The present embodiment describes an example in which thegrouping unit generates a group based on the location information of theplurality of mobile devices accumulated by the location acquiring unitover a period of one day. In this case, the grouping unit performsgeneration and updating of the groups once per day.

The grouping unit may condense a plurality of rows, such as a row ofdata in FIG. 3, into a single row in response to a determination,derived from the location information, that a mobile device is locatedin the same area during multiple detections. The grouping unit maycondense two rows into a single row if the location of a mobile device,such as “cxresigxg..feg” of FIG. 3, does not change even though the timechanges from the first row to the second row. In the case shown in FIG.3, the row resulting from the condensing by the grouping unit mayinclude the identification information of the mobile device recorded inthe first column and the corresponding location information (latitude:35.65858 and longitude: 139.745433) recorded in the second column. Thecorresponding location information of the condensed row may be recordedas a location range or area, such as the defined area.

FIG. 4 shows an example of information defining the areas where eachmobile device spends time, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 4 shows defined areas in which each of the mobiledevices has been detected, based on the location information, temporallyarranged by a grouping unit, such as the grouping unit 150 of FIG. 1.The mobile device “cxresigxg..feg” moved from a first area, defined bylongitude: 35.65858 to 35.65860 and latitude: 139.745433 to 139.745435,to a second area, defined by longitude: 35.658809 to 35.658789 andlatitude: 139.70988 to 139.74978. The mobile device “rsdfesfei..qvx”moved from a third area, defined by longitude: 35.658704 to 35.658705and latitude: 139.745408 to 139.745409, to a fourth area, defined bylongitude: 35.658788 to 35.658989 and latitude: 139.798237 to139.745909.

The right-most column in FIG. 4 shows exemplary counting resultsobtained by the counter unit. Specifically, FIG. 4 shows an example inwhich, while the mobile device “cxresigxg..feg” is located in the firstarea, the mobile device “efexfs..cgf” is detected to be in the firstarea two times, the mobile device “fger..fee” is detected to be in thefirst area three times, the mobile device “qegfe...get” is detected tobe in the first area one time, the mobile device “onbf..plf” is detectedto be in the first area five times, and the mobile device “ouitf..at” isdetected to be in the first area one time. Furthermore, while the mobiledevice “cxresigxg..feg” is located in the second area, the mobile device“gigxg...eaf” is detected to be in the second area three times, themobile device “tdrs..ete” is detected to be in the second area twotimes, the mobile device “hzahr..lkj” is detected to be in the secondarea five times, and the mobile device “qpaf..hjs” is detected to be inthe second area one time. In other embodiments, the counter unit mayalso count detections of other mobile devices even while the mobiledevice is not in an area. For example, if a mobile device spends a lotof time at an area, the counter unit may determine that the mobiledevice is associated with other mobile devices that are detected in thatarea, even if the other mobile devices do not always appear at the sametime.

Each row in FIG. 4 may be a candidate for a group to be formed by thegrouping unit. The grouping unit may record the information of eachgroup candidate in a storage unit. FIG. 4 shows an example in which eachrow, which is a group candidate, includes identification information,area information, and counting results of other mobile devices. In otherembodiments, each row may further include information concerning theperiod of time over which each mobile device is located in each area.

FIG. 5 shows exemplary updated groups or group candidates resulting froma weighting unit, such as the weighting unit 154 of FIG. 1, assigningweights to the detections, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 5 shows an example in which, during the time or times,including past times, that the mobile device “cxresigxg..feg” has beenlocated in the first area, the mobile device “efexfs..cgf” has beendetected in the first area 23.67 times, the mobile device “fger..fee”has been detected in the first area 33.52 times, the mobile device“qegfe...get” has been detected in the first area 58.78 times, themobile device “onbf..plf” has been detected in the first area 5.33times, and the mobile device “ouitf..at” has been detected in the firstarea 1.62 times. Fractions of detections are included in the number ofdetections because the weighting unit has used values less than 1 asweights.

A determining unit, such as the determining unit 156 of FIG. 1, maycompare the sum of the number of detections of each mobile devicedetected in an area to a predetermined threshold to determine whether toinclude the detected mobile device in a group corresponding to the area.For example, if the predetermined threshold is 20, then the determiningunit may generate a group, e.g., a first group, that includes the mobiledevices “efexfs..cgf,” “fger..fee,” and “qegfe..get” in the group of themobile device “cxresigxg..feg” corresponding to the first area, definedby longitude: 35.65858 to 35.65860 and latitude: 139.745433 to139.745435. Since the sum of the number of detections for the mobiledevices “onbf..plf” and “ouitf..at” are each less than 20, thedetermining unit may determine not to include these mobile devices inthe first group.

Furthermore, the grouping unit may be operable to create a second groupfor the first mobile device if the first mobile device is detected in asecond area. For example, if the predetermined threshold is 20, then thedetermining unit may generate the second group by including the mobiledevices “gigxg..eaf” and “hzahr..lkj” in the group of the mobile device“cxresigxg..feg” corresponding to the second area, defined by longitude:35.658809 to 35.658789 and latitude: 139.70988 to 139.74978.

FIG. 6 shows exemplary groups created by a grouping unit, such as thegrouping unit 150 of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 6 shows an example of three groups, wherein each groupcorresponds to an area where the first mobile device 610 has beendetected. The three groups in this example include a first groupcorresponding to an office, a second group corresponding to a golfcourse, and a third group corresponding to a park.

The first group may be created by grouping a plurality of mobile devicesincluding the first mobile device 610 and the second mobile device 620.The second group may be created by grouping a plurality of mobiledevices including the first mobile device 610. Similarly, the thirdgroup may be created by grouping a plurality of mobile devices includingthe first mobile device 610. The second and third groups do not includethe second mobile device 620.

If the first mobile device 610 and the second mobile device 620 arelocated in an area associated with the first group, then the generatingunit does not generate a notification, even though the second mobiledevice 620 is proximal to the first mobile device 610 because thesemobile devices are currently located within the area associated with thefirst group. There may be no need to provide notification when the useris working in the office along with a coworker as usual. Therefore, thegenerating unit may not generate a notification when a mobile deviceassociated with a group associated with an area within which the mobiledevices are currently located.

If the first mobile device 610 and a plurality of mobile devicesassociated with the second group are located in the area associated withthe second group, then the generating unit does not generate anotification because these mobile devices are currently located withinthe area associated with the second group. There may be no need toprovide notification when the user is playing golf at the golf coursewith people the user often meets. Therefore, the generating unit may notgenerate notifications for the first mobile device indicating proximityof the plurality of mobile devices associated with the second group.

If the first mobile device 610 is located proximal to the second mobiledevice 620, and if the first mobile device 610 and the second mobiledevice 620 are located in the second area, which corresponds to thesecond group, then the generating unit may generate a notificationbecause the second mobile device 620 is not associated with the secondgroup, but only the first group, and the second area is outside of thefirst area. When a coworker from the office who the user does notusually meet at the golf course is coincidentally in proximity to theuser at the golf course, it may be necessary to notify the user of theproximity of the coworker. In response, a notification unit may notifythe first mobile device 610 that the second mobile device 620 is inproximity.

In this way, the user of the first mobile device 610 may be informedthat an acquaintance from the office is nearby at a place outside of theoffice, thereby giving the user an opportunity to talk to thisacquaintance. In the manner described in the present embodiment, whensomeone who the user meets frequently in the same place, such as theoffice, is coincidentally nearby at a different place, particularly aplace for spending personal time, it can be difficult for the user torecognize this person since they may be wearing different clothes,accessories, glasses, or hats, for example. In such a case, thenotification unit may provide notification that an office acquaintanceis nearby; and therefore, the user can avoid passing by thisacquaintance without noticing them.

Such coincidental meetings can also occur outside of the second area,i.e., the golf course, which corresponds to the second group. Forexample, the second mobile device 620 is not included in the thirdgroup, and a coincidental meeting can occur if the second mobile device620 is proximal to the first mobile device 610 in the third area, i.e.,the park, which corresponds to the third group. Notifications may bedelivered to mobile devices even when located in areas corresponding togroups in which neither mobile device has been grouped. Therefore, thegenerating unit may be further operable to generate the notification ifthe first mobile device 610 is located within the predetermined distancefrom the second mobile device 620 when the first mobile device 610 andsecond mobile device 620 are outside of the first area. If there aremultiple mobile devices in proximity to the first mobile device 610 thatwarrant notification, then the generating unit may generate, for thefirst mobile device 610, a notification of proximity for each of thesemobile devices.

FIG. 7 shows a first example of a notification 712, according to anembodiment of the present invention. The first mobile device 710displays the notification 712 delivered to the first mobile device 710by a notification unit, such as the notification unit 170 of FIG. 1.FIG. 7 shows an example in which the first mobile device 710, a secondmobile device, and a third mobile device are associated with a firstgroup of mobile devices, and the first mobile device 710 is locatedwithin the predetermined distance from the second mobile device and thethird mobile device, but the first, second, and third mobile devices arelocated outside of the area associated with the first group.

A generating unit, such as the generating unit 160 of FIG. 1, generatesa notification 712 indicating the proximity of two mobile devicesassociated with the first group, and the notification unit delivers thenotification 712 to each of the first, second, and third mobile devices.In response to receiving the notification 712, each of the first,second, and third mobile devices may display, “Two of your co-workersare near here.” In this way, the apparatus can provide notificationindicating the proximity of mobile devices associated with the samegroup without using the personal information of the users of the mobiledevices.

In other embodiments, a notification unit may deliver more detailed areainformation in a notification. For example, the notification unit maydeliver longitude and latitude information of an area, addressinformation obtained by converting longitude and latitude information ofan area into an address, and/or map information showing an area. In thisway, a mobile device may display, “Two people from the group for ToyosuCanal Front Building, 5-6-52, Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo are near here.”

FIG. 8 shows a second example of a notification 812, according to anembodiment of the present invention. The first mobile device 810 maydisplay information delivered to the first mobile device 810 by anotification unit, such as the notification unit 170 of FIG. 1. FIG. 8shows an example in which area map information 814 is delivered by thenotification unit, received by the first mobile device 810, anddisplayed on the first mobile device 810. For example, notification 812indicates, “Two people associated with the location below are nearhere.”

In other embodiments, a grouping unit may perform grouping includinginformation concerning the time period during which each mobile deviceis located in each area. In these embodiments, a generating unit maygenerate a notification to include this time information, and a mobiledevice may display, “Two people who are in company with you from 9:00a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays are near here.”

FIG. 9 shows a system for proximity notification, according to anembodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the systemincludes an apparatus 900 and a mobile device 910. The apparatus 900includes a location data collection section 902, a recording database903, a recording data analysis section 905, a human group update section906, a group database 908, and an outlier detection section 909. Themobile device 910 includes a location uploading section 912 and anotification receiving section 914.

The location data collection section 902 may be operable to periodicallyacquire the location information of each mobile device, such as themobile device 910, in an entire network, on the Internet, subscribing toa service provider, subscribing to a proximity service, etc.Alternatively, a location uploading section, such as location uploadingsection 912, of each mobile device may upload the location informationto the location data collection section 902. The location datacollection section 902 may acquire the location information from eachmobile device through wireless communication, wired communication, or acombination of wired and wireless communication protocols interconnectedin a network, such as the Internet. The location data collection section902 can be a modem, a LAN interface, a wireless LAN interface, or anyother wired or wireless communication interface.

The recording database 903 is in communication with the location datacollection section 902 and may be operable to store the acquiredlocation information. The recording database 903 may store a time thatthe location information was acquired, and identification of the mobiledevice, along with the location information, such as in the format shownin FIG. 3. The recording database 903 may store setting values of theapparatus 900, intermediate data, calculation results, thresholds,parameters, and the like that are generated or used in the operationsperformed by the apparatus 900. The recording database 903 may be acomputer readable medium, such as an electronic storage device, amagnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagneticstorage device, a semiconductor storage device, etc.

The recording data analysis section 905 may be operable to periodicallycollect, such as once per day, the periodically acquired locationinformation of mobile devices and may compute the number of detectionsthat each mobile device has appeared within a degree of proximity to asubject mobile device for each area in which the subject mobile devicehas been located. This recording data analysis section 905 repeats thisprocess for each mobile device as the subject mobile device andgenerates an aggregate record, such as the record shown in FIG. 4. Therecording data analysis section 905 may be a circuit, a shared ordedicated computer readable medium storing computer readable programinstructions executed by a shared or dedicated processor, etc.

The human group update section 906 may be operable to create a group bygrouping at least two of the mobile devices based on proximity by usingthe aggregate record. For example, the human group update section 906may determine whether to create a group or add a mobile device to anexisting group by comparing the number of detections to a predeterminedthreshold. The human group update section 906 may make thisdetermination by comparing a weighted number of detections to thepredetermined threshold. If the number of detections exceeds thepredetermined threshold, then the human group update section 906 maycreate a group corresponding to a subject area including at least themobile device having the exceeding number of detections in that area andthe subject mobile device. If a group corresponding to the subject areaincluding the subject mobile device already exists, then the human groupupdate section 906 may add the mobile device having the exceeding numberof detections to that group. The human group update section 906 maystore new and updated groups in the group database 908. The human groupupdate section 906 may be a circuit, a shared or dedicated computerreadable medium storing computer readable program instructions executedby a shared or dedicated processor, etc. In some embodiments, the humangroup update section may be computer readable instructions stored on thesame computer readable medium and executed by the same processor as therecording data analysis section.

The group database 908 may be operable to store new and updated groupscreated or updated by the human group update section 906. The groupdatabase 908 may be accessed by the outlier detection section 909. Thegroup database may be a computer readable medium, such as an electronicstorage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, anelectromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, etc. Insome embodiments, the group database may be a shared computer readablemedium with the recording database.

The outlier detection section 909 may be operable to generate anddeliver a notification to a mobile device in response to determiningthat another mobile device from a group is located within apredetermined distance from the mobile device at a time when both mobiledevices are outside of the area corresponding to the group. The outlierdetection section 909 may access the group database 908 and therecording database 903. The outlier detection section 909 may determinefor which, if any, mobile devices to generate notifications by comparingthe groups of each mobile device with the location information of eachmobile device acquired from the location data collection section 902 ateach acquiring period. The outlier detection section 909 may be operableto deliver the notifications to the mobile devices. The outlierdetection section 909 may be a circuit, a shared or dedicated computerreadable medium storing computer readable program instructions executedby a shared or dedicated processor, etc. In some embodiments, theoutlier detection section may be computer readable instructions storedon the same computer readable medium and executed by the same processoras the recording data analysis section and/or the human group updatesection.

The location uploading section 912 may be operable to determine thelocation of the mobile device 910 and upload location information to thelocation data collection section 902. The location uploading section 912may include a Global Positioning System (GPS) chip, a compass, analtimeter, a communication device operable to request and receiveinformation corresponding to the location of mobile device 910, or anyother global or relative positioning device. The location uploadingsection 912 may also include a transmitter or transceiver, such as acellular transceiver, wireless transceiver, satellite transceiver, etc.,operable to communicate with the location data collection section 902.

The notification receiving section 914 may be operable to receive anotification and display the notification for a user of mobile device910. The notification receiving section 914 may include a receiver ortransceiver, such as a cellular transceiver, wireless transceiver,satellite transceiver, etc., operable to receive a notification from theoutlier detection section 909. The notification receiving section 914may also include an electronic display, such as a Liquid Crystal Display(LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display, etc., operable to produce avisual representation of the notification for a user of the mobiledevice 910. In some embodiments, the location uploading section and thenotification receiving section may share a transceiver.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary configuration of a computer 1900 according toan embodiment of the invention. The computer 1900, according to thepresent embodiment, includes a CPU 2000, a RAM 2020, a graphiccontroller 2075, and a display device 2080, which are mutually connectedby a host controller 2082. The computer 1900 also includes input/outputunits, such as a communication interface 2030, a hard disk drive 2040,and a DVD drive 2060, which are connected to the host controller 2082via an input/output controller 2084. The computer also includes legacyinput/output units, such as a ROM 2010 and a keyboard 2050, which areconnected to the input/output controller 2084 through an input/outputchip 2070.

The host controller 2082 connects the RAM 2020 with the CPU 2000 and thegraphic controller 2075 which access the RAM 2020 at a high transferrate. The CPU 2000 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 2010and the RAM 2020, thereby controlling each unit. The graphic controller2075 obtains image data generated by the CPU 2000 on a frame buffer orthe like provided in the RAM 2020 and causes the image data to bedisplayed on the display device 2080. Alternatively, the graphiccontroller 2075 may contain therein a frame buffer or the like forstoring image data generated by the CPU 2000.

The input/output controller 2084 connects the host controller 2082 withthe communication interface 2030, the hard disk drive 2040, and the DVDdrive 2060, which are relatively high-speed input/output units. Thecommunication interface 2030 communicates with other electronic devicesvia a network. The hard disk drive 2040 stores programs and data used bythe CPU 2000 within the computer 1900. The DVD drive 2060 reads theprograms or the data from the DVD 2095 and provides the hard disk drive2040 with the programs or the data via the RAM 2020.

The ROM 2010, the keyboard 2050, and the input/output chip 2070, whichare relatively low-speed input/output units, are connected to theinput/output controller 2084. The ROM 2010 stores therein a boot programor the like executed by the computer 1900 at the time of activation, aprogram depending on the hardware of the computer 1900. The keyboard2050 inputs text data or commands from a user and may provide the harddisk drive 2040 with the text data or the commands via the RAM 2020. Theinput/output chip 2070 connects a keyboard 2050 to an input/outputcontroller 2084 and may connect various input/output units via aparallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, and thelike to the input/output controller 2084.

A program to be stored on the hard disk drive 2040 via the RAM 2020 isprovided by a recording medium as the DVD 2095 and an IC card. Theprogram is read from the recording medium, installed into the hard diskdrive 2040 within the computer 1900 via the RAM 2020 and executed in theCPU 2000.

A program that is installed in the computer 1900 and causes the computer1900 to function as an apparatus, such as apparatus 100 of FIG. 1,includes a location acquiring module, a storage module, a receivingmodule, a registration module, a grouping module, a generation module,and a notification module. The program or module acts on the CPU 2000 tocause the computer 1900 to function as a location acquiring unit, suchas location acquiring unit 110, a storage unit, such as storage unit120, a receiving unit, such as receiving unit 130, a registration unit,such as registration unit 140, a grouping unit, such as grouping unit150, a generation unit, such as generating unit 160, and a notificationunit, such as notification unit 170.

The information processing described in these programs is read into thecomputer 1900 to function as a location acquiring unit, a storage unit,a receiving unit, a registration unit, a grouping unit, a generationunit, and a notification unit, which are the result of cooperationbetween the program or module and the above-mentioned various types ofhardware resources. Moreover, the apparatus is constituted by realizingthe operation or processing of information in accordance with the usageof the computer 1900.

For example, when communication is performed between the computer 1900and an external device, the CPU 2000 may execute a communication programloaded onto the RAM 2020, to instruct communication processing to acommunication interface 2030, based on the processing described in thecommunication program. The communication interface 2030, under controlof the CPU 2000, reads the transmission data stored on the transmissionbuffering region provided in the recording medium, such as a RAM 2020, ahard disk drive 2040, or a DVD 2095, and transmits the read transmissiondata to a network or writes reception data received from a network to areception buffering region or the like provided on the recording medium.In this way, the communication interface 2030 may exchangetransmission/reception data with the recording medium by a DMA (directmemory access) method, or by a configuration that the CPU 2000 reads thedata from the recording medium or the communication interface 2030 of atransfer destination, to write the data into the communication interface2030 or the recording medium of the transfer destination, so as totransfer the transmission/reception data.

In addition, the CPU 2000 may cause all or a necessary portion of thefile of the database to be read into the RAM 2020, such as by DMAtransfer, the file or the database having been stored in an externalrecording medium, such as the hard disk drive 2040, the DVD drive 2060(DVD 2095) to perform various types of processing onto the data on theRAM 2020. The CPU 2000 may then write back the processed data to theexternal recording medium by means of a DMA transfer method or the like.In such processing, the RAM 2020 can be considered to temporarily storethe contents of the external recording medium, and so the RAM 2020, theexternal recording apparatus, and the like are collectively referred toas a memory, a storage section, a recording medium, a computer readablemedium, etc. Various types of information, such as various types ofprograms, data, tables, and databases, may be stored in the recordingapparatus to undergo information processing. Note that the CPU 2000 mayalso use a part of the RAM 2020 to perform reading/writing thereto onthe cache memory. In such an embodiment, the cache is considered to becontained in the RAM 2020, the memory, and/or the recording mediumunless noted otherwise, since the cache memory performs part of thefunction of the RAM 2020.

The CPU 2000 may perform various types of processing onto the data readfrom the RAM 2020, which includes various types of operations,processing of information, condition judging, search/replace ofinformation, etc., as described in the present embodiment and designatedby an instruction sequence of programs, and writes the result back tothe RAM 2020. For example, when performing condition judging, the CPU2000 may judge whether each type of variable shown in the presentembodiment is larger, smaller, no smaller than, no greater than, orequal to the other variable or constant, and when the condition judgingresults in the affirmative (or in the negative), the process branches toa different instruction sequence or calls a sub routine.

In addition, the CPU 2000 may search for information in a file, adatabase, etc., in the recording medium. For example, when a pluralityof entries, each having an attribute value of a first attribute isassociated with an attribute value of a second attribute, are stored ina recording apparatus, the CPU 2000 may search for an entry matching thecondition whose attribute value of the first attribute is designatedfrom among the plurality of entries stored in the recording medium andreads the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry,thereby obtaining the attribute value of the second attribute associatedwith the first attribute satisfying the predetermined condition.

The above-explained program or module may be stored in an externalrecording medium. Exemplary recording mediums include a DVD 2095, aswell as an optical recording medium, such as a Blu-ray Disk or a CD, amagneto-optic recording medium, such as a MO, a tape medium, and asemiconductor memory, such as an IC card. In addition, a recordingmedium, such as a hard disk or a RAM provided in a server systemconnected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can beused as a recording medium, thereby providing the program to thecomputer 1900 via the network.

The programs described herein are identified based upon the applicationfor which they are implemented in a specific embodiment of theinvention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular programnomenclature herein is used merely for convenience, and thus, theinvention should not be limited to use solely in any specificapplication identified and/or implied by such nomenclature.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles ofthe embodiment, the practical application or technical improvement overtechnologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinaryskill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

What is claimed is: 1-7. (canceled)
 8. A computer program product formobile computing device proximity notification, the computer programproduct comprising: one or more computer readable storage media andprogram instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storagemedia, the program instructions comprising: program instructions toacquire location information for a plurality of mobile computingdevices; program instructions to create a first group of mobilecomputing devices based on location proximity in the acquired locationinformation of the plurality of mobile computing devices, wherein thecreated first group includes a first mobile computing device and asecond mobile computing device; and program instructions to determinewhether the first mobile computing device is within a predetermineddistance to the second mobile computing device, and the first mobilecomputing device and the second mobile computing device are outside ofan area associated with the first group.
 9. The computer program productof claim 8, further comprising program instructions, stored on the oneor more computer readable storage media, to: responsive to determiningthat the first mobile computing device is within a predetermineddistance to the second mobile computing device, and that the firstmobile computing device and the second mobile computing device areoutside of an area associated with the first group, generate anotification for the first mobile computing device and the second mobilecomputing device; and deliver the generated notification to the firstmobile computing device and the second mobile computing device.
 10. Thecomputer program product of claim 8, wherein the program instructions toacquire location information for a plurality of mobile computingdevices, comprises program instructions to; periodically acquirelocation information for each mobile computing device within theplurality of mobile computing devices.
 11. The computer program productof claim 8, wherein the program instructions to create a first group ofmobile computing devices based on location proximity in the acquiredlocation information of the plurality of mobile computing devices,further comprises program instructions to: identify candidate mobilecomputing devices that are within a defined proximity to the firstmobile computing device; and create the first group of mobile computingdevices, wherein the first group includes one or more of the identifiedcandidate mobile computing devices.
 12. The computer program product ofclaim 11, wherein the program instructions to identify candidate mobilecomputing devices that are within a defined proximity to the firstmobile computing device, further comprises program instructions to:monitor a number of detections of mobile computing devices within thedefined proximity to the first mobile computing device within a timeperiod that the first mobile computing device is present within an area.13. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising programinstructions, stored on the one or more computer readable storage media,to: count a number of detections of a third mobile computing devicewithin the area associated with the first group; and determine whetherto add the third mobile computing device to the first group based oncomparing the number of detections of the third mobile computing deviceto a predetermined threshold.
 14. The computer program product of claim8, wherein the plurality of mobile computing devices are a plurality ofsmartphones.
 15. A computer system for mobile computing device proximitynotification, the computer system comprising: one or more computerprocessors; one or more computer readable storage media; and programinstructions stored on the computer readable storage media for executionby at least one of the one or more processors, the program instructionscomprising: program instructions to acquire location information for aplurality of mobile computing devices; program instructions to create afirst group of mobile computing devices based on location proximity inthe acquired location information of the plurality of mobile computingdevices, wherein the created first group includes a first mobilecomputing device and a second mobile computing device; and programinstructions to determine whether the first mobile computing device iswithin a predetermined distance to the second mobile computing device,and the first mobile computing device and the second mobile computingdevice are outside of an area associated with the first group.
 16. Thecomputer system of claim 15, further comprising program instructions,stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by at leastone of the one or more processors, to: responsive to determining thatthe first mobile computing device is within a predetermined distance tothe second mobile computing device, and that the first mobile computingdevice and the second mobile computing device are outside of an areaassociated with the first group, generate a notification for the firstmobile computing device and the second mobile computing device; anddeliver the generated notification to the first mobile computing deviceand the second mobile computing device.
 17. The computer system of claim15, wherein the program instructions to acquire location information fora plurality of mobile computing devices, comprises program instructionsto: periodically acquire location information for each mobile computingdevice within the plurality of mobile computing devices.
 18. Thecomputer system of claim 15, wherein the program instructions to createa first group of mobile computing devices based on location proximity inthe acquired location information of the plurality of mobile computingdevices, further comprises program instructions to: identify candidatemobile computing devices that are within a defined proximity to thefirst mobile computing device; and create the first group of mobilecomputing devices, wherein the first group includes one or more of theidentified candidate mobile computing devices.
 19. The computer systemof claim 18, wherein the program instructions to identify candidatemobile computing devices that are within a defined proximity to thefirst mobile computing device, further comprises program instructionsto: monitor a number of detections of mobile computing devices withinthe defined proximity to the first mobile computing device within a timeperiod that the first mobile computing device is present within an area.20. The computer system of claim 15, further comprising programinstructions, stored on the computer readable storage media forexecution by at least one of the one or more processors, to: count anumber of detections of a third mobile computing device within the areaassociated with the first group; and determine whether to add the thirdmobile computing device to the first group based on comparing the numberof detections of the third mobile computing device to a predeterminedthreshold.